


Terry the terrible canon ruiner

by MarsAndMighty



Category: Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fluff, Friendship, Self-Indulgent, Self-Insert
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-29
Updated: 2020-04-29
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:49:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23917072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarsAndMighty/pseuds/MarsAndMighty
Summary: I was lucky to meet him. Lucky beyond measure.“Come with me.” He said gently, in the doorway of his magic box.Far too lucky for his own good.***Straight to the point, no mucking around, no repeating canon. I just want 11 to have a friend and chill, so that's what this is.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 9





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Just wrote this one night when I wanted to indulge myself in something nice. I don't know if I'll ever write more but I just wanted to share it.

I was lucky to meet him. Lucky beyond measure.

“Come with me.” He said gently, in the doorway of his magic box. 

Far too lucky for his own good.

“I... Can’t.”

“Why not?”

“I told you, I- I’m not supposed to be here. It’s a miracle the universe hasn’t exploded yet.”

“Then maybe the universe doesn’t mind you being here.”

The way he spoke, it just made you want to believe him. I swelled with hope, barely able to choke out my next words.

“I know too much. I’ll mess up. Something will happen and I’ll say something I shouldn’t and-“ My voice cut out, unable to squeeze past the emotion that clogged my throat.

I wanted to say yes, I wanted to run away with him, I’d _dreamed_ of it. And as much as I had loved hearing his invitation, I would have rather he hadn’t.

Because it’s so much harder to deny yourself something you want, when someone else is talking you into it.

“You won’t mess up. It’s not possible, I’d be able to tell if you were capable of something like that. I would be able to _see_ it. You won’t ruin anything.”

I was sobbing by then.

“Please, don’t- I’m- You wouldn’t be safe with me, I’ll spoil something by accident and, _and_ -“

“But you said you weren’t in the story you knew, right?”

“Well, no, of course not.”

“You said I was supposed to meet someone called Amy? Well I haven’t and I probably never will. Well, not that I’ll never meet an Amy, or that I haven’t, of course I have, I just mean the same Amy you mean because that would be very unlikely.”

Oh god, he didn’t meet Amy.

“Then I’ve ruined the timeline already. The universe is doomed.”

“Says who? This clearly isn’t the universe you know, if it’s not happening the way you know it. It’s a whole new world! For you, that is. You have no idea what’ll happen. You haven’t ruined the universe, you’re just a part of it.”

Something in that statement made me stutter, my sobs crashing to a halt.

Is there a chance I might actually belong here? That I was meant to be here? That it’s... Okay for me to be here?

Do I dare even hope?

“Terry, come with me.”

“Y-you don’t want some cry-baby slowing you down.” 

“No. I want my new friend with the big heart, who can help me stop and smell the flowers.” 

Looking into his gentle eyes, that were just as full of hope as I was-

I couldn’t stop myself from taking his hand and following.


	2. Chapter 2

I went to war with myself every day.

I’m ruining everything. I should demand he take me home and tell him to never come back. I should insult him, make him hate me so he’ll get rid of me and find his real companions. 

Because if I’m here with him that means everyone else isn’t. If we’re running around these planets, that means all those others will never be saved.

But then every day something brilliant and exciting would happen and I’d smile. I’d have fun dashing around the universe with him, solving problems and causing problems.

And every morning after I’d hate myself for it.

One morning – just seven days after following him into the box – I finally worked up the nerve to say something. We were in one of the smaller kitchens, the one with the grey tiles, eating toast.

“I want to go home.”

He was so startled he dropped his plate into the sink, toast and all.

“What? _Why_?”

“I... It’s too much for me.” I lied.  
“I can’t handle the stress.”

“But, but,” He slid into the chair next to me and damn it, his face is so much sadder up close.  
“We’ve been having fun, haven’t we? Yesterday you said you wanted to go to the Saffron Galaxy. I was going to take us to a carnival planet today.”

“Well... You can save that trip for your next companion.” He sat back at that, eying me suspiciously. 

“What next companion?”

“You always get another companion. Never alone for long.”

He sat there, grumpy, staring until I started getting nervous.

“Is this about that Amy person again?”

Shit.

“No.”

“Yes, it is! You still think you’re messing with time by travelling with me!”

I could only keep my poker face for so long before breaking.

“Well I am, aren’t I?!” 

He jumped out of his seat and began storming around the room.

“No! I told you, I told you already, I explained it!” His hands wildly gesturing with a terrifying amount of emotion.  
“This is not That world! You’re here, this is different! And everywhere we’ve been you haven’t even recognised anything supposedly ‘important’. Why won’t you believe me?”

“How can I, when I’ve seen what’s supposed to happen?”

“What makes you think that’s what’s ‘supposed’ to happen? Just because it happened in one universe, doesn’t make it the best scenario out of all the infinite possibilities!”

“Well this _feels wrong_! It feels like I’m- like I’m robbing you of your future.”

He stopped pacing and stared at me. It felt like he saw through me, into my soul. I looked away. 

“Did it feel wrong when you saved my life three days ago at the edge of Farlows Peak?”

“What? Of- _No_ , of course not. You’re not supposed to die, not there.”

“And so I didn’t, because you were there.” I couldn’t think of a response to that.  
“Did it feel wrong to lay upon the yellow beaches on Gysantia and just relax?”

I felt all the fight in me vanish.

“No.” I said, heavy with strange guilt. 

It didn’t feel wrong at the time, but afterwards? When we arrived at the next planet and it was at war? It felt like I had committed a crime by having just been on a holiday.

People were dying and not three hours before I had been making _sandcastles_.

“I know it’s not... Nice, seeing some of the things we do. But isn’t it worth it? Worth everything else we see?”

I forced myself to meet his eyes and the dam broke, rushing down my cheeks.

“ _Yes_. It’s so worth it.”

“Then don’t leave. Please.”

After plenty of crying and thinking and trying to stop crying, I finally gave up.

“Okay.” This isn’t That world.  
“I won’t.” 

“Do you promise?” 

“I promise.”


	3. Chapter 3

“I’ve never had a friend like you before.” I said, breaking the silence.

“What, an alien one?”

“No- Well, yeah, but that’s not what I meant.”

“A time travelling one?”

“Shut up and let me talk.”

“Sorry.” He said, sounding not at all sorry.

“I’ve never spent this much time with someone else. Never. We see each other every day, completely by choice. You’re the only person I ever talk to, really.”

“Hm. Is that bad?”

“No, not bad, just... New. I suppose you’re my best friend.”

“What? You mean you’ve never had a best friend before?”

“Not really. I mean, there was my brother, Adam, but then he changed.”

“Changed how?”

“Oh he just got all into being a rebel. _Do drugs, fuck school, don’t listen to what other people tell you_. Suddenly had really strong opinions on the weirdest things. And he was meaner. Started insulting me more cruelly, stopped mentioning they were just jokes.”

He didn’t say anything to that, but I could feel the disapproval in his silence. It’s strange; usually he’s the one talking on and on and I’m enjoying listening. It’s nice to know he’s a good listener too.

“He was young though, still in his twenties like me. I was hoping it was a phase, that he’d grow from it and be kind again. Hopefully by thirty, I had thought. But...”

“But he didn’t change?”

“I’ll never know. I woke up here one day and now I’ll never find out.”

“Do you miss him?”

“...Yeah. I miss him.”

We were both silent for a while, just watching the clouds roll by.

“I had a good friend. Her name was Donna.”

My heart stopped for a moment. Oh god, he never even _mentioned_ her after they separated on the show. I didn’t know how to approach such a sensitive subject, so I just went with my gut.

“Do you miss her?”

“ _Terribly_.” His voice was thick with emotion.

I instinctively sought his hand and held it tight. He squeezed it right back.

“Is it bad that I’ve only known you for two weeks and already consider you my best friend?”

“No, it’s not bad at all.”

We never once took our eyes off the sky.

After a while I broke the silence once more.

“Does it look just as nice at night?”

“Yeah, it’s _beautiful_. We can go in the Tardis and skip a few hours, if you want?”

“No, I’m too comfortable.”

“Me too. We can stay here until night falls and see it then?”

“Mm. That sounds nice.”

And it was. 


End file.
